Loose-leaf ledger.



PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

R. J. FRANK. LOOSE LEAP LEDGER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26,1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT J. FRANK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD AUDIT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

LOOSE-LEAF LEDGER.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

A li ti fil d June 26, 1905. Serial No. 266,923.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that I, ROBERT J. FRANK, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have in vented certain new and useful I mprovements in Loose-Leaf Ledgers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of looseleaf ledgers having side frames provided with binder-pin mechanism and means for moving the side frames back and forth with relation to each other to permit the removal or insertion of the leaves or sheets and the expansion and adjustment of the frame to correspond with the number of sheets or leaves held thereby.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient loose-leaf ledger.

The invention consists in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a loose-leaf ledger constructed in accordance with my improvements; Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view looking from the front or open end toward the back, showing the parts in closed locked position; Fig. 3, a similar view showing the mechanism in open position; Fig. 4:, a sectional elevation in detail, taken on line 4 of Fig. 3, showing the rack-and-pinion mechanism; Fig. 5, asectional elevation showing the means for locking the rack-operating shaft and the manner of slidably connecting the end flange or guide portions of the side frames; Fig. 6, a sectional plan view in detail, taken on line 6 of Fig. 3, showing the means for locking the rack-operating shaft.

In constructing a loose-leaf ledger in accordance with my improvements I provide a pair of side frames a and 6, formed, preferably, of metal and adapted to be covered by a canvas or other covering 0, which may be secured in any ordinary and well-known manner, such covering extending forward or in the direction of the open end of the book and forming a flexible connecting portion (Z, which connects the outer cover-leaves c with the side frames or hinder mechanism. The flexible portions (Z should be of suflicient width to enable the cover-leaves to be folded back fiat against the side frames, and a suitable back portion 1" forms a protecting-covering for the back side of the metallic framework. One of the metallic side-frame members is provided with preferably integral upright end flange or guide portions g at the opposite ends thereof, each of such guide portions having an inner flange ii at its forward edge forming a guiding-slot between such inner flange and the upright guide portion. The opposite side frame is provided, preferably, with an integral upright end portion '5 at each end, which extends slidably into the slots formed between the flanges 7t and the upright guide portions above described. Suitable binder-pin mechanism is provided, consisting of a plurality of hollow binder-pin members 1', secured to one of the side frames and a plurality of pin members is, secured to the opposite side frame and adapted to enter the axial perforations in the hollow pin members. The telescopic binder pins thus formed are adapted to permit the insertion and removal of leaves when in open position and to hold the leaves securely when in closed position.

In order to provide suitable means for operating the side frames, and thereby openingand closing the telescopic binder-pins, and in order to enable the side frames to be locked in any desired adjusted position one of the side frames is provided with rack mechanism comprising, preferably, a plurality of racks Z, secured thereto by means of rivets m or in any ordinary and well-known manner and extending back of and parallel with the binder-pins in the direction of the opposite side frame. A rack-operating shaft a is rotatably mounted back of the binder-pins and provided with pinion-teeth 0, which mesh with the teeth 2) of the racks. This rack-operating shaft is rotatably mounted by means of the brackets q upon the back portion 0 of one of the side frame members, and in order to enable the racks and the side-frame member upon which they are secured to have the maximum movement with relation to the side-frame member upon which the rack-operating shaft is mounted the shaft is mounted as far as possible from the free ends of the racks when in closed position. To positively limit the movement of the side frames,lugs or shoulderss are provided upon the side-frame member to which the racks are secured, such lugs or shoulders being preferably integral with the racks and adapted to engage the rack-operating shaft when the side frames are at their extreme limit of movement or in open position. In order to increase the rigidity of the mechanism when in open position, the side-frame member to which the racks are secured may be provided with a preferably integral guide or back portion 2, in sliding engagement with the back portion 1" of the opposite side-frame member and extending between such back portion and the rack-operating shaft. The back portion r is integral with and forms part of the side-frame member Z2 and is bent to form the guiding end portions g, as shown in Fig. 6. I prefer to form the pinion-teeth of the rack-operating shaft by milling them into or upon the shaft, so that the outer edges or apices of the teeth are flush with the periphery of the shaft. By this means the space occupied by the racks and rack-operating shaft is minimized and the distance from the front to the back side of the side frames is reduced to a minimum, thus enabling the ledger to be opened to as flat a position as possible. Sleeves or collars u are mounted upon and in fixed relation to the rack-operating shaft on opposite sides of the brackets or hearings in which the shaft is mounted, so as to prevent the longitudinal movement of the shaft. In order to enable the shaft to be operated by means of the key and the mechanism locked in any desired adjusted position, one end o of the shaft n is made angular or provided with shoulder portions 20, and a locking-sleeve y, having an axial perforation conforming to the angular surface of such shaft, is slidably mounted thereon and held against rotation with relation to the shaft by means of such angles or shoulders. The outer suface of the sleeve is also angular or provided with similar shoulders z, and a socket member 2 is mounted upon the back portion of the side-frame member which supports the rack-operating shaft adjacent to the guiding end portion, such socket member having angular inner walls conforming to the angular form of the sleeve. A spring 3 is mounted upon the angular or shouldered portion of the shaft, having one end abutting.

against the collar it, which is in fixed relation to the shaft, and the other end in engagement with the slidable sleeve, so that the sleeve is thus adapted to be pressed against the tension of the spring out of engagement with the angular socket member by means of a key, which may be inserted through perforations 4 and 5 into engagement with such sleeve and at the same time into engagement with the angular or shoulder portion of the rack-operating shaft. By this arrangement it will be seen that the insertion of the key will press the locking-sleeve y inward against the tension of the spring y until it is out of locking engagement with the socket member. The

turningof the key with the sleeve in this position will rotate the rack-operating shaft in the desired direction, thus opening or closing the mechanism, and when the side frames are in the desired position the removal of the key will permit the locking-sleeve to be pressed into locking position by means of the spring. The side frames and binder-pin mechanism are thus securely held in any desired adjusted position and the opening or operation of the device prevented except by means of a key adapted to fit the angular end of the shaft and enter the space between such shaft and the angular inner wall of the socket member. It will also be noted that the sleeve when in locking position extends flush with the end of the shaft and closes the perforations into which the key is inserted. The shaft thus cannot be rotated except by first pressing the sleeve out of locking position.

I claim 1. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination of a pair of side frames mounted in movable relation to each other, rack mechanism upon one of such side frames, a rack-operating shaft rotatably mounted upon the other side-frame member and provided with tooth mechanism in engagement with such rack mechanism, a locking-socket member, and mechanism connected with the rack-operating shaft and movable into and out of locking engagement with such socket member.

2. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination of a pair of side frames mounted in movable relation to each other, rack mechanism upon one of such side frames, a rack-operating shaft rotatably mounted upon the other side-frame member and provided with tooth mechanism in engagement with such rack mechanism, a locking-socket, a locking element connected with the rack-operating shaft and movable into and out of engagement with such lockingsocket, and a spring for holding such locking mechanism in engagement with the lockingsocket.

3. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination (if a pair of side-frame members mounted in-movable relation to each other, rack mechanism upon one of such side-frame members, a rack-- operating shaft mounted upon the other sideframe member having tooth mechanism in engagement with such rack mechanism and provided with an angular end portion, and mechanism mounted in engagement with such angular end portion for holding it locked and thereby holdingthe side-frame members in fixed relation to each other.

4. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination of a pair of side-frame members mounted in movable relation to each other, rack mechanism upon one of such side-frame members, a rackoperating shaft mounted upon the other side frame having tooth mechanism in engagement with such rack mechanism and provided with an angular end portion, a socket member, and an angular locking-sleeve slidably mounted upon the angular end portion of such shaft and movable into and out of locking engagement with such socket member.

5. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination of a pair of side-frame members mounted in movable relation to each other, rack mechanism upon one of such side-frame members, a rackoperating shaft mounted upon the other sideframe member having tooth mechanism in engagement with such rack mechanism and provided With an angular end portion, a socket member, an angular locking-sleeve slidably mounted upon the angular end portion of such shaft and movable into and out of locking engagement With such socket member, and means for automatically moving such locking-sleeve into locking engagement with the socket member.

6. In a loose-leaf ledger, the combination of a pair of side-frame members mounted in mov- ROBERT J. FRANK.

WVitnesses:

HARRY I. OROMER, A. L. SAvoIE. 

